


The Christmas Chronicles of Peter Parker and Tony Stark

by aceschwarz222



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Christmas Chronicles
Genre: Awesome May Parker (Spider-Man), Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Dad!Tony, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Iron Dad, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Feels, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective May Parker (Spider-Man), Protective Tony Stark, Santa is Real, Sassy Peter, Teen Peter Parker, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, peter and tony ruin christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-15 09:24:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16930632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceschwarz222/pseuds/aceschwarz222
Summary: Tony Stark knows that Peter Parker has some quirks. So when he spends Christmas Eve with the teen and helps him try and catch Santa Claus on tape, he doesn't really question it. But, it turns out that Santa is very real, and his sleigh is very breakable. After a freak accident leaves Santa grounded and Christmas in jeopardy, Peter and Tony need to work together to help save Christmas (you know, cause they're kind of the ones that ruined it). Can they find Santa's reindeer, rally the troop of elves from the North Pole, and deliver the rest of the presents before the sun rises while avoiding the police and other threats? It's possible, but it'll take a Christmas miracle (and some major IronDad fluff along the way).In order words: The Christmas Chronicles (from Netflix) meets the MCU.MAJOR SPOILERS for the movie.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey friends! I watched The Christmas Chronicles on Netflix yesterday, and I fell in LOVE with it! So much so, that my brain produced this entire fanfic in 24 hours.
> 
> Some key notes:
> 
> \- This follows the plot of the movie pretty closely, but I have taken some liberties with the storyline. Spoiler warning now.   
> \- It takes place after Homecoming, and IW does not exist.   
> \- Tony and Peter are pretty close (be prepared for ALL THE FEELS)  
> \- I am aware that a kid as smart as Peter probably wouldn't believe in Santa, but I hope my reasoning makes sense  
> \- I know I said the turkey fic was the most ridiculous thing I've ever written, but I am 98% sure this one tops it
> 
> Enjoy!! I really hope this makes you laugh!

Peter Parker still believed in Santa Claus. Or maybe it was just the spirit of Santa Claus, Tony Stark couldn’t be too sure. All he knew was that he was currently in Peter’s apartment setting up the perfect “trap” to catch Santa in the act. May had to work the night shift at the hospital, and she had asked Tony to stay with Peter so he wasn’t alone on Christmas Eve. 

“I hate that I have to work,” May had said, “but the hospital really needs me. It would mean the world to Peter if you were with him tonight.”

And how could Tony say no to that?

At first, he had offered to let Peter stay at his room in the Tower. He had spent so much time there that Tony had renovated a space just for him. But, May had nixed the idea.

 

_ “Christmas was always really important to Ben,” she had explained. “Peter still hasn’t decorated the tree for this year, and he probably won’t. I don’t want him running away from the apartment. He needs to face what happened eventually.” _

 

May had also warned him about Peter’s obsession with catching Santa Claus. Apparently, he’d been trying to catch Santa on tape for years, and he and Ben had been partners in crime in the endeavor. He had taken the year off after Ben died, but for some reason, he was more determined than ever to find evidence of Santa this year. 

 

_ “It’s a bit childish,” May had admitted, “but this could be good for him.” _

 

So even though Tony had prepared himself for Peter’s antics, he certainly wasn’t expecting this. He was starting to have some doubts to the kid’s intelligence level as he strung some clear fishing line around the coffee table and into the bathroom. Peter had removed the bathroom doorknob and was trying to jerry rig an old video camera of Uncle Ben’s so it was aimed at the sparse Christmas tree in the living room. He had even put baby powder in front of the fireplace to find evidence of Santa’s footprints. He had gone through all the trouble of setting this stuff up, yet he still hadn’t hung up any Christmas decorations. Tony really couldn’t figure it out. There was no way a kid as smart as Peter could still believe that Santa was real. 

Could he?

“What else do we need?” Tony asked, tying the fishing line to a bunch of bells. He wasn’t super thrilled about the idea of spending the night sleeping on blankets in the bathroom, but he was willing to do anything if it made Peter smile. The teen had been having a rough year, and this was the least he could do.

“Junk food!” Peter exclaimed. He scurried up after getting the tripod just right and carefully squeezed out. He came back moments later with his arms full of ice cream and bags of chips.

“Geez, kid,” Tony joked, “you think you’ve got enough sugar there?”

Peter smirked and tossed Tony a Ben and Jerry’s container with Iron Man’s face on it. “How else are we going to stay up all night?” he asked. He dug into his own ice cream, going uncharacteristically silent. “Hey Mr. Stark?” he said after a few moments.

“Yeah, Pete?”

Peter looked up at Tony with the most sincere look in his eyes. He blushed a bit and dug his spoon back into his ice cream, looking back down. “Thanks...for doing this with me.” He cleared his throat. “I, uh...I know you probably have a million other things you’d rather be doing tonight and it’s kind of stupid and-”

“Peter,” Tony interrupted. “Look at me.” Instead of waiting for the teen, Tony gently tilted his chin so he was looking up. “There’s nothing I’d rather be doing. I promise.”

The smile Peter gave him was worth it.

 

* * *

 

Peter and Tony were sound asleep amidst their blankets, pillows, and discarded containers of ice cream. They had spent the better part of the evening pigging out on junk food and sharing hilarious stories from each of their childhoods. They had passed out just before 9:30pm, way earlier than any respectable teen and adult should have fallen asleep.

A sudden jingling of bells stirred Peter from his restful slumber. He groaned and pushed an empty bag of chips off his chest. The bells jingled again, and suddenly, Peter was wide awake. He kicked out at Tony and scrambled up to look through the video camera. He panned around and gasped when he saw white footprints coming away from the fireplace.

“No way,” he breathed. He moved the camera across the room and froze when he landed on a pair of big, black boots. “MR. STARK!” he whisper shouted. “Holy shit, Mr. Stark!”

Tony groaned as Peter’s foot connected with his stomach. “Wha-?” he asked groggily.

“It’s Santa!” Peter exclaimed. “Holy shit, it’s Santa!” He peeked through the camera again, but the boots were gone. “Shit!” He jumped up and yanked the plug out of the video camera. “C’mon, Mr. Stark! He disappeared!”

Tony rubbed his eyes and felt his back crack as he slowly got up and looked out the door. “Kid, seriously?” he yawned. “It was probably just a mouse or-” He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the white footprints. “A burglar,” he reasoned. “It’s gotta be a-”

Large thuds pounded above them, and Tony and Peter both looked up. “The roof!” they both yelled.

“Grab your coat!” Tony demanded. He hopped from one foot to the other as he put on his shoes while Peter stuffed his body into his winter coat. He tossed Tony his hat and scarf and they bolted out of the apartment. They took the stairs two at a time and burst through the door leading to the roof.

Peter turned around wildly, aiming his camera in front of his chest. “Do you see him? Do you see Santa?”

Tony scoffed. “Santa, no. I’m looking for the damn burglar who broke into your apartment.”

Peter’s face paled, and he froze. “Mr. Stark…”

“I mean, seriously,” Tony continued ranting. “Who the hell breaks into someone’s house on Christmas Eve?!”

“Mr. Stark!”

“When I find this idiot, I’m gonna-”

“MR. STARK!”

“WHAT?!” Tony shouted back, facing Peter. He saw Peter’s shocked expression and turned around to follow his gaze. “Oh my god,” Tony gasped.

Floating above them was a sleek sled being pulled by eight reindeer.


	2. Part 2

Tony tried to get the right words to form in his mouth that could possibly explain what the hell he was seeing right now. There was no possible way he was seeing an actual sleigh being pulled by actual reindeer. 

“It’s an illusion,” Tony whispered to himself. “It has to be. Peter, it’s just an-” He paused when he noticed that Peter was no longer standing in front of him. He turned from side to side. “Peter? Peter?!” he called desperately.

“Over here!” Peter exclaimed from the edge of the rooftop. He was climbing up one of the poles on the ledge, giving Tony immediate gray hairs.

“Peter Parker get your ass down from there!” Tony yelled, sounding more like his mother than he wanted to admit.

“I’ve gotta find out if it’s really his sleigh!” the teen cried back. Tony ran over to try and stop him, but Peter leapt off the pole and landed safely in the sleigh.

“Son of a bitch,” Tony muttered, running along the edge of the roof. He did some quick mental math, and his eyes landed on the corner of the roof. He picked up speed and jumped up, hitting the corner with just enough force to launch high enough in the air. He reached out and grabbed the runners, getting a firm grip on them as the sleigh continued to float down Peter’s street.

“How the hell is no one else awake to see this?” Tony gasped exasperatedly as he tried to swing his legs up. “Psst! Kid! Help me up!”

Peter’s face, and that stupid camera, peered over the edge of the sled. “Mr. Stark?” the teen asked, as if he couldn’t believe Tony was actually there.

“No, I’m the freaking Easter Bunny!” Tony shot back. Peter reached out a hand and helped Tony into the sleigh. “You think that guy’s real too, right?”

Peter scoffed. “Dude, everyone know the Easter Bunny is a load of crap.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Of course. How could I be so naive?” He watched as Peter dug around the back of the sleigh. “Kid, I know what this looks like, but I can promise you, this isn’t actually Santa’s sleigh.”

“No?” Peter asked, clearly not believing him. “Then what is this?”

“An optical illusion? A really well-thought out prank?” Tony offered. “A million other logical explanations.” Although, the more he looked around, the more he was beginning to doubt that himself. Howard Stark was the only one who had ever come close to developing a floating vehicle of any kind, and that idea had died out with him.

Peter opened his mouth to protest, but he suddenly stopped and pointed. “Look!” he yelped.

Tony turned and followed Peter’s finger to the rooftop across the street. A red, glittery mass hopped to a chimney and suddenly disappeared down inside. Before Tony could process what was happening, it came back out and a man appeared in its place. He wore a deep red coat and a hat on his head. He carried a large sack over his shoulder, and he was suddenly facing the sleigh.

“Duck!” Tony demanded, yanking Peter down. His heart beat wildly in his chest and he watched his breath come out in wispy puffs in front of him.

“Did he see us?” Peter asked nervously.

Tony shook his head. “I don’t think so.” He took a deep breath and looked at Peter. “Kid, you’ve enough footage of...of whatever this is. Let’s get outta here.”

“Why can’t we just stay here?” Peter asked.

“Stay here?” Tony repeated. “In the sleigh?”

Peter grinned mischievously. “So you admit it’s a sleigh!”

“Jesus, kid!” Tony whined. “That’s not what I meant-”

A large whooshing sound filled the air, and the large man from the roof suddenly jumped down and plopped in the front seat. Peter and Tony cowered in the back, trying to duck low. The man quickly tossed the sack on top of them both, and Peter and Tony tried to be as quiet as possible under the velvety red fabric.

The man said something in a language neither Peter nor Tony understood and whipped two thick, leather reins. Both stowaways managed to look at each other before being pushed back against the sleigh as it rushed off into the night sky.

The sleigh weaved up, down, and side to side, accelerating faster than Tony’s Iron Man suit. Tony tried to find something, anything to hold onto, but he slid over into Peter, smushing him against the side. They both gaped at the night sky, which was currently zooming past them. The stars seemed closer the more they traveled up, and a dark fear crept into Tony that reminded him of the portal from the Battle of New York. Peter reached out and gripped his hand. It was mostly for his comfort, but also because he saw the look of panic on his mentor’s face. Tony squeezed tightly and closed his eyes, waiting for the wild ride to be over.

“On Cupid! On Comet!” the man up front shouted. Peter and Tony heard the reins crack again as the sleigh picked up another burst of speed. 

After a few minutes, the sleigh’s path evened out, but they were still traveling extremely fast. Peter and Tony looked at each other and nodded before sitting up and glancing over the edge. They both gasped as the New York City skyline greeted them from below. Millions of golden lights blinked up at them, and Peter stared down in awe. Tony gently grabbed the video camera from Peter and turned towards the front to get a better look at what was going on.

He watched in disbelief as the reindeer galloped on absolutely nothing but clouds and some type of miracle. They moved up and down like a wave while the man pulled the reins left and right to correct their movement.

Tony eye’s flitted down to the dashboard of the sleigh. There were all sorts of buttons and knobs set in gold. Peter’s eyes widened as a huge glowing globe turned green around the edges. A roll of letters currently spelled out “New York, NY”, and Tony gulped.

They were actually in Santa’s sleigh.

Tony fell back down in disbelief. This couldn’t be real...he had to be dreaming. But it was too damn cold for this to be a dream, and one look at Peter proved this fact. The teen was huddled in around himself shaking like a leaf. Damn the spider bite and the lack of thermoregulation.

“I-It-It’s fr-fr-freezing,” Peter stuttered.

Tony put the camera down and rubbed his hands down Peter’s arms. “Hang in there, kiddo,” Tony soothed. “He’s gonna go back down again.”  _ He has to, _ Tony thought to himself.

Peter gave Tony a small smile. “M-Maybe S-S-Santa had a bl-blanket?” he joked.

What the hell, maybe he did. “I’ll look,” Tony promised. He began digging around the bed of the sleigh, trying to find some secret compartment that might have a fuzzy blanket hidden somewhere. He was so busy with his own task that he didn’t even notice Peter lean up and over the front of the sleigh.

Peter ignored the wind whistling past his face and reached out his hand. Santa was a good guy, he reasoned. He would take them down now, so Peter could get warm.

“Santa?” he asked, touching the man’s shoulder.

The man turned around, and the first thing Peter noticed was how his beard was more silver than white, like the movies had portrayed him. He also looked kind of...young.

“AHHHH!” the man screamed, jolting forward and knocking into his dashboard.

“AHHHHH!” Peter shouted back, falling back and crashing towards Tony.

Santa suddenly yanked up on the reins, and the reindeer rushed vertically into the air. Tony watched in horror as Peter tripped right past him and fell out of the sleigh into the night sky.


	3. Part 3

“PETER!” Tony screamed, reaching out a hand. But it was too late, and the teen went barreling towards the ground to become a Peter Parker pancake. 

Tony reached frantically for his watch, but he realized with horror that it wasn’t there. He wouldn’t be able to call an Iron Man suit to save Peter. He turned around and took a deep breath. “HELP!” he yelled desperately.

The man turned around, the reins still in his hand. He saw Peter’s free fall and immediately went into action. He barked out some command, and the reindeer quickly changed direction and bolted after Peter.

They got close enough that Tony could hear Peter screaming.

“MR. STARK!” Peter reached out as the sleigh matched his height.

“GRAB MY HAND!” Tony pleaded. He leaned out as far as he could and felt his fingertips graze Peter’s. He let out one last yell and reached just a little farther. He felt Peter’s hand wrap around his wrist, and he yanked the teen inside the sleigh.

Peter clung to him like a koala as they flopped on the floor, a bright light surrounding them on all sides. Tony heard the roar of a jet engine fill the sky, and he realized what was coming directly at them.

Tony, Peter, and the man all screamed hysterically as they saw the cockpit windows of the plane rush towards them. The man pulled the reins and they dodged an epic disaster in the knick of time. But the reindeer weren’t strong enough to avoid the tailwind, and the sleigh veered dangerously from side to side.

The man grunted as he tried to regain control, but the whole sleigh began to vibrate. The roll of letters began to whir uncontrollably, and the green light around the globe flashed ominously.

Suddenly, a green portal opened in front of them, and they flew right through it. Peter’s head whipped around as he watched what appeared to be holograms of different landmarks appear around him. The Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel Tower, and more whizzed by at nauseating speeds.

The man continued shouting in his mysterious language, and by now, Tony was convinced that he wasn’t dreaming. He just wasn’t sure what type of crazy reality he was currently flying through.

The sleigh wobbled as a huge gust of wind tore through them, sending the man’s hat flying off into the distance. They lurched out of the portal, and began a wild descent downward. Peter gasped as the red sack dislodged itself from the sleigh and fell over the edge. He barely had time to register where it headed when the pole attaching the reindeer to the sleigh finally broke off. The man almost went tumbling out as the reindeer continued galloping, but he wisely let go of the reins.

Tony felt his stomach drop as their source of flight took off without them and the sleigh took a nosedive.

“Hold onto your son!” the man shouted to Tony.

Tony decided to wrap his arms around Peter’s shoulders instead of correcting the man’s mistake about Peter’s genealogy. A pair of wings shot out from the side of the sleigh, and it decelerated their descent, but not before clipping an ancient water tower and spiraling towards the ground.

Tony shielded Peter with his body and prayed that the teen would survive whatever crash came next.

And then the world went black.

 

* * *

 

Peter felt freezing cold water drift into his nose as he lay face down in the snow. Memories of the Vulture dropping him into the lake gripped him and held tight, causing the frazzled teen to gasp and roll over in a desperate attempt to get some air. He coughed and spit the water out, trying to get his breathing under control. An acrid burning smell filled the air, and Peter caught a glimpse of the smoking sleigh sticking out of a snow bank.

The sleigh.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter asked frantically as he tried to stand up. Everything came back to him in a flash, and all he wanted was to find Tony and get the hell home so they could curl up on the couch and watch Christmas movies. “Mr. Stark?” he tried again.

Tony groaned, and Peter spotted his prone form a few yards away. “Kid?” Tony asked, carefully sitting up. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Peter replied, breathing a sigh of relief. He felt the ground around him for his video camera, but it was nowhere to be found.”Where’s the camera?”

Tony pointed to a small object partially buried in the snow. Peter crawled over and swept it clean before inspecting it for damage. “It still works!” he yelped.

Tony was about to yell at Peter for being more concerned about his camera than almost falling to his death, but he realized he didn’t recognize where they were. Peter watched as the mysterious man practically fell out of the sleigh behind Tony, while Tony truly started to panic.

“Where are we?” Tony asked, looking around wildly.

“Uh, Mr. Stark?”

“I swear I thought I saw Paris,” Tony said. “But it was a bit greener than I remember.”

“Mr. Stark?”

“Then again, I was pretty plastered last time I visited,” Tony rambled on. His eyes widened. “The plane! That damn thing nearly killed us!”

“Mr. Stark!”

“I was in the sky without my suit!” Tony exclaimed.

“MR. STARK!”

“WHAT?!”

Peter pointed behind him, and Tony looked up to find the man from the sleigh standing directly above him. Tony let out an earth-shattering scream before scrambling desperately in the snow towards Peter. The teen knelt down and helped Tony stand up.

“Santa Claus?” Peter asked tentatively.

The man stood with his hands on his hips, his silver beard shining brightly in the moonlight. His long, red coat billowed gently in the slight breeze, and Peter could finally see that it was accented with a fuzzy white trim. The man’s eyes were kind as he smiled at the two of them, but there was also a bit of mischief hidden behind them.

“Live and in person,” Santa replied.

“One night only.”


	4. Part 4

“You two okay?” Santa asked, pointing at Peter and Tony. 

Tony was to dumbfounded to do anything but nod, so Peter talked for them. “Y-yeah,” he replied. He cleared his throat and gave Santa a once over. “You look so...um...different.”

Tony glanced at Peter in disbelief. Maybe the kid needed to stop talking for them. The last thing they needed was to piss Santa off. He quickly shook his head. There was no way, absolutely no way, he believed for a second that this was the real Santa Claus.

At least, he didn’t think so.

Santa did not seem all that impressed with the teen genius. He pursed his lips and held out his arms. “Why, because I’m not some big, fat slob?”

Peter quickly shook his head, realizing his error. “No, no!” he assured Santa. “I-I didn’t mean it that way.”

Santa gave Peter a small smile. “Eh, that’s okay, Peter. I guess it’s understandable.” He grinned knowingly. “I mean, who can eat millions of cookies in one night, and not get fat, right?” He let out a dangerous laugh as he eyes narrowed. “Well I can!” he insisted, pointing to himself before walking back to the sleigh.

Tony’s heart sank. This lunatic knew Peter’s name! If he had Spidey sense like Peter did, it would be going off like crazy right now. But when he looked to Peter, the teen didn’t seem phased at all.

“Can you go ‘ho, ho, ho’?” Peter asked.

Oh boy, Tony was going to kill this kid.

Santa turned around. “I don’t go ‘ho, ho, ho,’” he replied sharply. “That’s a myth! Fake news!”

“Sorry,” Peter apologized, having the decency to look embarrassed. He tried to follow Santa, but Tony gripped his arm and held him back.

“Oh, no,” Santa muttered, looking at the mess that was his sleigh. “Oh-” He backed away as more smoke came out of the bottom. “You two have really messed things up!” he accused, waving a finger at them. “You were supposed to be asleep!”

“It was his idea!” Tony exclaimed, pointing at Peter. Childish, yes, but Tony was confused, frazzled, and maybe a little hangry.

“Hey!” Peter protested, jabbing a finger into Tony’s side. 

“Well it was,” Tony replied, sticking his tongue out.

“Wait!” Santa interrupted. “What did you do with my sack of presents?”

Peter looked to Tony nervously, and Tony decided to be the one to break the bad news. “Well, the thing is, big guy, it...uh...it fell out of the sleigh.”

Santa’s eyes widened. “Oh, not good. Not good at all.” He tried fiddling with the green and gold globe on his dashboard, but it whirred weakly and fizzled out. Santa looked up to the sky and held up his hands. “First star is there…” he mumbled. “Second star is…there…”

Peter and Tony looked up to try and map the night sky with him, but the city lights were bright and distracting. Santa began walking away from the sleigh as he continued to talk under his breath.

“We came over Moscow...then Paris...then Boston...Oh!” He nodded confidently. “Reindeer must’ve broken off somewhere over Lakeshore Drive.”

“Lakeshore Drive?” Peter asked, his nose scrunching in confusion. He knew almost every street in New York City thanks to his work as Spiderman, but that one didn’t sound familiar at all.

“We’re in Chicago, young man,” Santa replied.

“Chicago?” Tony asked, his blood running cold. “That means we traveled thousands of miles in about thirty seconds. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t see any Iron Man technology on that contraption of yours!”

“Epic!” Peter squealed, realizing they had just traversed the United States.

“Epic disaster!” Santa scoffed back, looking down at a watch that was secured tightly on his wrist. “If I’m not up and running in the next few hours, half the continent’s not going to get presents, and that...well, that can never happen.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Ugh, so a few people don’t get presents. It’s not the end of the world.” He could mail them presents courtesy of the September Foundation if it meant he and Peter could get the hell out of there.

Santa turned around and stared at Tony in disbelief. “That’s just the kinda lame garbage I’d expect from a Lost Believer,” he chided. He began to stalk towards Tony. “You listen to me, Anthony Stark,” Santa demanded. “Tonight, young kids are waiting all over the globe are waiting, hoping,  _ expecting _ , Santa Claus to arrive. And if I don’t…” Santa shook his head. “Well, you don’t wanna know what happened the last time I couldn’t make my rounds.”

Peter fumbled with his video camera and held it up. “Yes, we do!” he insisted. “Please tell us.”

Santa humored Peter by looking down at the camera. “You ever heard of the Dark Ages?” he asked ominously.

Peter’s mouth dropped open. “You caused the Dark Ages?” he gasped.

“Okay, that’s it,” Tony said, “May and I are sending you to a different school if you seriously believe this guy caused the Dark Ages over your history textbooks.”

“MJ always says they have a white, patriarchal bias,” Peter muttered defiantly.

“Peter, we are standing in front of a guy dressed as Old Saint Nick,” Tony deadpanned. “That’s about as white and patriarchal as it gets.”

Santa glared at Tony. “Christmas Spirit is more powerful than you could ever imagine! People need Christmas to remind themselves of how good they can be! Without it, well..” He trailed off as if trying to find the right words. ”Well, Christmas must endure!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony replied sarcastically while Peter looked like he was about the clap. “Nice soapbox you’ve got there, buddy.”

Santa pushed past Tony and Peter and began making a list. “Okay, I’ve got to gather up my reindeer, find the sack of presents, call the elves, and maybe, just maybe, I can save Christmas.” He reached into his sleigh and pulled out a small ball that emitted a teal light.

Tony couldn’t help but be intrigued at the device. “What’s that?”

Santa held it up for Tony to see. “Tracking device for the sack.” He rolled it in his hands. “The closer you get, the faster it chimes. It’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah, it is,” Peter agreed enthusiastically.

The device chimed quickly, and Santa sighed in relief. “At least it’s not that far away.” He pocketed the device and gave Tony and Peter a small salute. “Well...bye!”

He leapt up into the air, but instead of flying away, he face planted into the snow. Tony held back the urge to laugh while Peter rushed over and knelt down beside Santa.

“Oww,” Santa groaned.

“Santa, are you okay?” Peter asked, concern lacing his voice.

Santa gasped and shot up. “Oh no! Oh no,no,no,no,no,no,NO!” He ran his fingers through his hair. “My hat!” he exclaimed. “My hat’s gone!”

Peter began grabbing at his. “Do you want mine?”

Tony’s heart swelled at Peter’s kindness. The kid may be a bit of a trouble magnet, but he couldn’t deny how good Peter was.

But Santa was apparently not impressed by Peter’s generosity. “Oh that won’t help!” he exclaimed. “Your hat’s not magic!”

“Magic?” Peter asked. “Like Doctor Strange?”

Santa shook his head. “How do you think I can turn into coal dust and leap from rooftop to rooftop?”

“So…” Peter said slowly. “Like Doctor Strange?”

Santa gave up at that point. “My hat,” he repeated glumly. “I can’t believe this!” He pulled himself up and brushed the snow from his clothes. “She told me, ‘You should always bring a spare, Nick!’” He groaned and shook his head. “Well, looks like I’m gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way. On foot.”

“Santa!” Peter pleaded. “Just let us help you!”

“Oh no,” Santa replied. “I think you’ve done enough damage already, don’t you? Just go back home and go to sleep. No need to wake up early. There won’t be any presents.” He scoffed and began to walk away. “You two are on the naughty list for life!”

Peter dropped his head in shame, the guilt from the night finally catching up with him. If he hadn’t been curious, he never would have gotten in the sleigh. Then he wouldn’t have scared Santa and caused the whole sleigh to basically break apart.

Tony felt his anger flare up. He gripped Peter’s shoulder and turned the teen to face him. “It was an accident, kiddo,” he promised.

Peter’s eyes filled with tears. “Did we just kill Christmas?” he asked softly. “Are people not going to get their presents because of us?”

Tony felt his heart clench. God, why did this kid have to be so damn  _ good _ ?

He shook his head and gave Peter a reassuring smile. “Not if I have anything to say about it. And I’m Iron Man.” He winked at Peter, who let out a teary laugh. “Hey, Saint Nick!” Tony yelled, causing Santa to stop in his tracks.

“What can we do to help?”


	5. Part 5

“Uhhh, Mr. Stark?” Peter asked nervously. “I don’t really think I’m supposed to be in here…”

Tony couldn’t completely disagree. When Santa had finally agreed to let Tony and Peter help him restore order and balance to Christmas, they had not expected him to walk straight into an Irish pub in the middle of Chicago.

Despite the late hour of Christmas Eve, the pub was packed with people. They all stared at the trio in amusement, and Tony wondered exactly what the hell this guy’s plan was. If he had his watch or cell phone, he could solve this with his fleet of Iron Man suits. But seeing as how he left both in Peter’s apartment in Queens, he had to admit that he was out of options. For now.

“Just stay next to me,” Santa replied, having overheard Peter’s whispers. “I’ll do all the talking.” Then he confidently sauntered over to the hostess, who stared at Santa with a mixture of disbelief and a bit of concern.

“Can I help you?” she asked nervously.

“Wendy!” Santa exclaimed as if reuniting with an old friend.

Wendy’s jaw dropped in shock. “How do you know my name?”

“You’ve gotten so big!” Santa commented, ignoring her question. “Grown up big!” he added quickly. “Do you remember that letter you sent me about being a fashion designer?”

“Uhhh…”

“She used to always ask for sewing kits,” Santa told Tony and Peter, “and little toy sewing machines. I think you started making your own stockings in 2009.”

Wendy’s eyes began to glisten with tears as the memories came flooding back to her. Tony had to admit, this guy was pretty good.

“What, uh, what is this?” Wendy asked, looking around. “Am I on a prank show right now?”

“Wendy, listen,” Santa said, leaning in close. “We’ve got a bit of a problem. We need a ride into the city.”

“Oh!” Wendy said. “Do you want me to call you an Uber?”

Santa shook his head. “Never got an account.”

“Um, a taxi?” Wendy suggested.

Santa looked guiltily to Tony and Peter. “Either of you have any cash?” They both shook their heads, thinking about the wallets that were currently useless on Peter’s kitchen counter. Santa patted his own pockets and produced a a bag of candy canes. “Do you think I can pay the driver with these?”

“Okay,” Tony said, steering Santa away from the poor, confused girl. “We might need a new plan.”

Santa pushed past Tony and began talking to the other patrons. Tony pulled Peter aside and pushed the camera down.

“Okay, listen,” Tony whispered. “We just need to find someone that’ll let us borrow their cell phone, and then we can call Rhodey or Cap or someone to help us.”

“Yes,” a woman said next to them. She gave Santa a nasty sneer as she held a cell phone up to her ear. “I have a man dressed as Santa Claus harassing people in a restaurant. And he’s got a kid with him. It could be an AMBER Alert situation.”

Tony was immediately offended. He was  _ right here _ thankyouverymuch, and he would never let anything happen to Peter. At least, not if he could help it. If Peter got into trouble on his own, that was on him.

“We might want to leave,” Peter suggested, backing away from the woman.

“Good idea,” Tony agreed. He opened his mouth to call out to Santa, but the man behind the bar did it for him.

“Hey!” the barkeep yelled. “You three! Out!” His muscular arms bulged out of his t-shirt, and his face seemed to be set in a permanent scowl. Tony spotted at least three or four prison tattoos on his arms, and he was about to suggest following Charlie’s orders when Santa decided to approach the man.

“Well, well, well,” Santa chuckled, “if it isn’t Charlie Plummer!” He turned to Peter and Tony. “Now, old Charlie here is in the Naughty List Hall of Fame!” He squinted his eyes at Charlie as if trying to remember something. “You got outta the joint again, what, a month ago, Charlie?”

Charlie looked around nervously. “Mmm hmm,” he hummed.

“Armed robbery,” Santa listed, “money laundering, grand theft auto…You know what, Charlie, I don’t think your parole officer would be too happy to know you’d stolen that red Challenger out in the parking lot.”

Tony froze as Charlie’s face twisted in anger. He pushed Peter behind him as Charlie reached under the bar and produced a wooden bat.

“Okay, time to go!” Tony demanded, practically dragging Peter and Santa outside the bar before Charlie could add attempted murder to his already impressive list of crimes.

“What did you do that for?” Santa exclaimed. “Christmas Spirit is already down to 35%, and we really need a ride into the city!”

“I agree,” Tony replied, “but my ideal plan doesn’t involve us getting our teeth knocked out through our skulls!” He turned to look at Peter, but the teen had disappeared. “Peter?” he asked, whirling around. He spotted the teen sneaking towards the valet’s stash of keys. “Peter!” Tony hissed. “Get back here!”

Peter waved him off and crouched down low to avoid being seen by the valet. He could hear rap music blasting through the guy’s headphones, and he held his breath as he found the keys he was looking for. He carefully lifted them off their hook and made a mad dash back to Tony and Santa.

Tony and Santa gave him a disapproving glare. “Now, Peter,” Santa chided gently. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Stealing a car is kind of illegal and undermines the whole naughty and nice concept, you know?”

Tony crossed his arms and stared at Santa incredulously. “You break into millions of homes every year,” he reminded Santa. “That’s pretty illegal too.”

Santa opened his mouth to respond, then nodded his head in defeat. “Fair point.”

Peter held up the keys. “Guys look!” He clicked the unlock button and a car chirped from their left. They all turned to see a red Challenger light up, and Peter smiled brightly. “It’s not just any random car! It’s the one Charlie stole!” He waved them over as he headed for the car. “We can borrow it for now and return it to the police station when we’re done!” He shuffled his feet bashfully against the blacktop. “I mean, that’s what Spiderman would do anyway.”

“Let’s go,” Santa smiled.

They all rushed as inconspicuously as possible over to the car, and Peter ran straight for the driver’s side.

“You are  _ not  _ old enough to drive,” Tony said, already planning to take his place.

“HEY!” an angry voice shouted from behind them. They all turned to find Charlie, baseball bat raised, heading right for them. “THAT’S MY CAR!”

“Technically you stole it!” Peter yelled back. This proceeded to make Charlie’s face turn an even uglier shade of purple, and he stalked towards them.

“Get in the car, Peter!” Santa exclaimed. “You’re driving!”

Tony wanted to protest, but he also knew how weak his kneecaps were without his suit, so he yanked open the back door and practically jumped inside. Peter and Santa buckled in up front, and Peter started the car.

The tires squealed against the wet pavement as he peeled out of the bar parking lot and headed towards the city.


	6. Part 6

Tony could count on one hand the number of times he truly felt like he was going to die. And now, experiencing Peter’s driving for the first time, he was pretty sure he was about to go to his second hand. 

Peter had no concept of staying in his lane, and driving at night with the glare on the road didn’t help. He tried going to speed limit, but spent so much time correcting his steering that he pressed anxiously on the gas. It was a Christmas freaking miracle that he had avoided all of the parked cars in the street, and Tony clutched onto the front headrests for dear life.

“Kid,” Tony wheezed as Peter made too sharp of a turn, “when we get home I am teaching you how to drive!”

Peter glanced back in his rearview mirror. “What?!” he exclaimed. “I’m doing way better than the night I stole Flash’s car! I haven’t even hit anything yet!”

“You did WHAT?!” Tony screeched as he slumped back in the seat. “Gray hair, Peter. I swear to god, you give me gray hair.”

“I thought that was because you were old,” Peter joked, taking his eyes off the road just long enough to get in the path of a random shopping cart. He quickly realized his mistake and swung the wheel to the left, narrowly missing it. “Sorry, Mr. Stark,” he said sheepishly.

“For what?” Tony asked, clutching his chest. “The gray hair comment or almost giving me a heart attack?”

“Both?”

“Shh!” Santa hissed, pointing to the radio. In a matter of minutes, he had completely disassembled the expensive sound system and hooked it up to catch police radio frequencies.

“How did you-” Peter started to ask, looking down.

“Eyes on the road!” Tony demanded, turning Peter’s head back to the front. He glanced over at the gerryrigged radio, impressed with the work. “But seriously, how did you do that?”

“Well,” Santa replied confidently, “I am the greatest toymaker on Earth.”

The radio crackled to life.  _ “All units, we have reports of a grand theft auto. A 2014 red Dodge Challenger, license plate six, Bravo, Lima, seven, two, four. Stolen by a boy, someone resembling Tony Stark, and an extremely large man.” _

 

Santa groaned. “A guy goes to the gym everyday, stays away from the sugar and carbs, what difference does it make? Oh man.” 

 

_ “Attention,” _ another voice on the radio said,  _ “we have reports of what appear to be...reindeer...running down Michigan Avenue. This is not a joke.” _

 

Santa grinned at Tony in the backseat, the insult against his weight forgotten. “Just what we’re looking for!” 

 

_ “They’re heading south on Michigan Avenue towards the water tower!” _

 

“That’s not far,” Santa commented. “Quick! Turn left here!”

Peter quickly turned the wheel and Tony’s face smushed against the side window as they sped down the street. Santa unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed up through the sunroof. “Let’s see if we can find my reindeer.”

Tony watched Peter lean forward and tighten his grip on the steering wheel. He slowed down the car and tilted his head as if to concentrate on some faraway noise.

“What is it, Peter?” Tony asked quietly so not to distract him.

“I think…” Peter replied, scrunching his nose. “I think I hear bells.” He looked out the window and spotted four huge reindeer trotting down an empty street. “Santa!” he yelled. “I found them! We have to turn around!”

Santa quickly climbed back down as Peter turned the car around and followed the reindeer. Peter heard the bells again and braked hard to stop the car. He unbuckled and opened the door, trying to find the source of the jingling. Tony followed after him and could actually hear the bells as well.

“C’mon guys!” Santa pleaded. “Dasher! Dancer! Get back here!”

Something moved in Tony’s peripheral vision, and he watched in horror as a police car turned down the street. “Guys! Guys!” he exclaimed. “We need to go!”

Santa nodded and waved Peter over. “Peter, come here!”

“Yeah?” Peter asked.

“You go after the reindeer,” Santa said. “Your dad and I are going to buy you some time.”

Peter’s face fell. “What?” He looked to Tony, his eyes begging his mentor not to leave him.

Tony swallowed thickly, knowing this was the best option. He refused to let Peter get busted by the cops. He had been arrested plenty of times, but Peter? He didn’t need that on his record. He jogged over to Peter and put his hands on his shoulders.

“Listen to me,” Tony said gently, “this is the best plan. If anyone can catch those reindeer, it’s you.”

“But-” Peter protested.

Tony cupped his hands around Peter’s face. “I am not leaving you,” he promised. “Do you hear me? We’ll lose the cops, and then I will find you.”

“Promise?” Peter asked, his voice sounding much younger than he actually was.

“Always.”

Peter lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Tony, who quickly returned the embrace. He pulled Peter in tight and gently pressed a kiss to the top of his head. The blare of the cop car’s silence broke the moment, and Tony carefully pushed Peter away.

“Go!” Tony exclaimed, running back towards the car. “We’ve got this!”

Peter nodded and ran away as quick as he possibly could while Tony climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Peter!” Santa yelled, pulling something out of his pocket. “Take this!” He tossed Peter the bag of candy canes before waving him off and getting in the car.

_ “Get out of the vehicle,” _ someone said through the police car speaker.

“Yeah, we’re not listening to that,” Tony told Santa, starting the car. They both shut their doors and sped off into the night.

 

* * *

 

Peter had never been so grateful for his super powers in his entire life. Sure, they got him in a bit of trouble every now and then, but they also came in handy.

For example, it had taken him less than two minutes to track down where the reindeer were hiding thanks to his super hearing and ability to run fast. He found them corralled in a parking lot, stomping their feet nervously against the cold ground. They stood at attention when they noticed Peter trying to approach them.

Peter gulped as they backed away nervously. He didn’t want to spook them and make them run away again. “H-H-Hey guys,” he stuttered. He held his hand out and tiptoed towards them. “It’s okay. I’m with Santa.”

The leader huffed and stomped his foot, causing Peter to stop. His face fell, and he was afraid that he was going to fail Tony, even though the man was sacrificing everything for Peter to have this one shot. He put his hands to his sides dejectedly and felt plastic crinkle in his sweatshirt pocket. He gasped and pulled out the package of candy canes.

“Here!” he said, unwrapping one and holding it out. The reindeer still backed away, and Peter sighed. “I’m one of the good guys,” he promised. “I just want to help Santa.”

The lead reindeer snorted and took a careful step towards Peter. It sniffed the candy cane and then opened its mouth and bit off the crook. Peter grinned widely as it chomped on the treat, and he could smell the mint in the air.

“There ya go,” Peter encouraged. He lowered the candy cane and replaced it with his hand. He whispered softly to the reindeer as he stepped closer and closer. His gloved hand shook a little as he tentatively let it drop onto the reindeer’s snout. When it didn’t pull away, Peter sighed and rubbed his nose.

“Hi there,” he giggled, feeling like a little kid again. A siren wailed in the distance, and Peter suddenly remembered his mission. “Please!” he exclaimed. “We’ve got to rescue Santa and Mr. Stark to help save Christmas! Will you help me?”

The reindeer nodded as if he understood Peter and got down on all fours so Peter could climb his back.

“No way,” Peter gasped, realizing what was about to happen. “I’m Peter, by the way.” He ran his hand across the reindeer’s back and stopped at the name tag on its belt. “And you’re...Comet!” he exclaimed. “Holy shit, you’re, like, super famous! Ned and MJ are gonna flip when they hear about this!”

Comet snorted as if to say, “Didn’t you say you needed our help?” and Peter quickly hopped on.

“Where’s the steering on this thing?” Peter asked himself as he looked at Comet’s broad back. He tucked his camera under his jacket so it was secure.

Comet answered for him by standing up and trotting to the edge of the parking lot. With nothing else to hold, Peter grabbed onto Comet’s antlers and hoped the reindeer wasn’t offended. Apparently, he wasn’t because Comet broke out into a gallop in the same direction as where the sirens were coming from.

“WAHOO!” Peter cheered, feeling exhilarated by the rush of air. He was riding an actual reindeer! They were going to save Christmas!

He only hoped Tony and Santa were having the same amount of luck he was.


	7. Part 7

Tony and Santa were running out of luck.

After Tony fumbled with the car and accidentally sent it in reverse towards the police (because he hadn’t driven himself around in a while and was rusty, okay?), they wove in and out of random streets trying to lose the police.

“Can’t you just Jedi mind trick us over the cops?!” Tony yelled, taking a hard left down a narrow alley. God, Peter was really rubbing off on him.

“I’m Santa Claus, not Yoda!” Santa shot back. “That’s not how this works!”

They sped back out onto the main road, the cops quickly catching up. Tony swerved and spun around, causing the cop car to zoom right past them in the opposite direction.

“YES!” Tony cheered.

“That’s how you do it!” Santa laughed at the same time.

They were both so busy celebrating that they didn’t see the other headlights until it was too late. Tony gasped and banked hard to avoid crashing into the oncoming SUV, and the Challenger flew right up a makeshift construction ramp. The world moved in slow motion as the car sailed through the air, and Tony let out a scream. The car nosedived into a snowbank and, thankfully, it cushioned their fall.

The car bounced and squealed as it popped through the other side of the bank and then spluttered to a stop in the middle of the street. Tony panted heavily and groped his chest to make sure he was still in one piece.

“Oh my god,” Tony shuddered. “Oh my god, oh my god.”

Santa swallowed thickly and looked out the window. “If you ever meet Mrs. Claus,” he said slowly, “maybe leave this part out?”

Tony gaped at Santa. They had nearly just died and he was worried about his  _ wife _ finding out? Tony banged his head against the seat and squeezed his eyes shut. Santa did have a good point though. “If you ever meet May Parker,” he rasped, “maybe leave this part out too?”

Santa nodded, recognizing the name. “No problem,” he replied warily. He knew all about May and her protectiveness over Peter. If he didn’t want to end up on  _ her  _ Naughty List, he would let this secret stay buried in the North Pole forever.

The police car skidded to a stop behind them, and Tony knew the jig was up. He really, really hoped that Peter had been able to find the reindeer in time. He could easily get someone to bail him out of jail, so he hadn’t been lying when he told Peter he wouldn’t leave him. It was just going to take a little longer to reunite than he previously thought.

_ “STEP OUT OF THE VEHICLE WITH YOUR HANDS UP!” _ the policeman roared.

Tony obeyed, unlocking the door and sticking his hands straight in the air as he left the car abandoned in the street. Santa followed suit, and they soon faced two officers with their guns drawn and aimed directly at them.

“Dave! Little Mikey!” Santa exclaimed with a smile. “Look at you all grown up and following your dreams!”

“Ah, Jesus,” Tony muttered. “Seriously? We’re going to try this again?”

Dave and “Little” Mikey at Santa and Tony in disbelief. Dave stepped closer to Tony and lowered his weapon. “Hang on,” he said, “are you Iron Man?”

“Tonight I’m just Tony,” Tony replied with a hint of sass.

“Yeah I can see that,” Dave shot back. “You mind telling me what the hell is going on? And why Tony Stark stole a car?”

“I’ll tell you what’s going on!” Santa interrupted. “We didn’t steal this car! We were just borrowing it before bringing it back to the station.”

“Yup,” Tony nodded, giving up at this point. If he was going to get shot because Santa Claus ran his mouth to some police officers, so be it. He had fought aliens, super humans, and villains, but Santa was turning out to be the biggest pain in his ass.

Go figure.

“That’s a good one,” Mikey scoffed. “Bringing a stolen back?”

“I swear!” Santa promised. “We’re gonna return the car, good as new!”

Dave looked at the smoking car warily. “Oh yeah? How’d you plan on doing that?”

Santa puffed his chest out proudly. “My crew of elves.”

Oh, yeah, Tony was 100% going to wind up shot or in jail tonight.

He leaned over to Santa. “Could you maybe cool it on the whole Saint Nick thing, right now?” he hissed. “Or wait until after their guns are away?”

“What?” Santa asked. “My elves build thousands of cars every year!”

“They work in Detroit?” Dave smirked.

Santa returned the smile. “A little further north.”

“Oh, he’s serious,” Mikey replied, pretending to be impressed.

“You know,” Dave said, “I never got your name.”

Santa was not amused. “C’mon, guys, really? It’s...I’m. Claus. Santa.”

Dave and Mikey looked at each other before they busted out laughing. Yep, Tony could already see tomorrow’s headline in the paper:  _ Tony Stark Steals Car with Santa Impersonator. _

May was going to kill him.

Pepper was going to kill him.

He honestly wasn’t sure who he was more afraid of at the moment.

“Okay, Santa Claus,” Dave chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. “Tell us, why are you stealing a car on Christmas Eve?”

“We need to save Christmas!” Santa exclaimed.

“Is Christmas in trouble?” Mikey mocked.

“Big trouble,” Santa replied.

Tony decided now would probably be a good time to step in. “Listen fellas,” he said, turning on his charm, “it’s Christmas Eve. I wanna go home, you probably wanna go home, and this guy definitely needs to get the hell out of here. So, why don’t I just pay for the damages and we call it a-”

He paused and looked to Santa. “Did you hear that?”

Santa nodded. “Sleigh bells!”

He, Tony, Dave, and Mikey turned around to the opposite end of the street and watched in amazement as a herd of reindeer came running towards them. Tony’s knees nearly collapsed in relief when he spotted Peter riding the leader, cheering like a madman.

“MR. STARK!” he yelled happily. “I FOUND THE REINDEER!” Comet sped up and Peter jolted forward. “Whoa, buddy, you can slow down! I’m new at this!”

But Comet ignored Peter’s request and continued his trek at the same speed. Santa’s expression went from elated to concerned. “Comet, slow down!” he shouted, trying to run towards his reindeer. Dave shoved him back while staring at the teen in amazement.

“Here,” Santa whispered, pulling the tracking device out of his pocket. “Take this.” Tony subtly reached over and took the glowing ball. “Find my sack of toys. It’ll lead you to the elves.”

“What about you?” Tony asked.

Santa winked. “I’ll be fine. Now go!”

Tony didn’t need to be told twice. He took off running towards the reindeer not looking back even though he heard Dave and Mikey tackling Santa to the ground. He spun around and reached out a hand as a reindeer ran up next to him. He gripped its fur and lifted himself up onto its back.

“FIND THE ELVES!” Santa yelled. “THEY’LL KNOW WHAT TO DO!”

“GET BACK HERE!” Dave roared, chasing after Peter and Tony.

“Mr. Stark, we’re going to run out of road!” Peter exclaimed, pointing to the dead end in front of them.

“How do you fly these things?!” Tony yelped, digging through his reindeer’s fur for some type of switch or lever.

“JINGLE BELLS!” they heard Santa shout.

Peter furrowed his brow. “Jingle bells?” He looked to Comet’s side and found a strip of sleigh bells bouncing against his flank. He reached over, grabbed the strip, and connected it to the other side. They glowed green for a moment, and Peter reached out to pat Comet’s head.

“C’mon, buddy,” Peter encouraged, “you can do it! Fly for me!”

Comet let out a snort before jumping in the air. But instead of landing back on the ground, his feet kicked out and seemed to climb invisble stairs. The other reindeer followed suit, and soon, Tony and Peter were flying.

“Oh my god!” Tony screeched, clutching onto his reindeer’s antlers for dear life.

“This is way better than my webs!” Peter declared, pumping his fist in the air.

They watched in amazement as they flew over Chicago. Peter spotted his reflection in the tall skyscrapers, and he waved at himself. Tony, meanwhile, was watching Peter. He hadn’t seen Peter this happy since...well, he couldn’t remember when.

“Hey, kid!” Tony shouted over the wind. He carefully pulled the tracking device out of his pocket. “You ready to save Christmas?”

Peter nodded enthusiastically, and clicked at Comet to guide him into the night sky.


	8. Part 8

Tony and Peter flew over the city until the tracker started beeping more persistently. Peter guided Comet towards the ground, and they hid the reindeer in a Christmas tree shop parking lot. After promising more candy canes on their return, Peter and Tony left to go find the sack.

They ran up and down the streets, following the pattern of the beeps. It was like playing a video game with no map or cheat codes, and Tony was starting to think they were going on a wild goose chase until they made some progress in front of an old church.

“We’ve gotta be close,” Peter huffed, watching the light on the tracker blink faster.

Tony spun around and held the tracker out at arm’s length. He stopped when it beeped loudly towards the sidewalk that led to the back of the church.

“This way!” Tony exclaimed. He started to run, but stopped when he saw Peter rooted in front of the entrance of the church. “Peter?”

Peter’s eyes were watering as he stared at the church door. He could hear the soft melody of “O Christmas Tree” seeping out into the cold night air. His chest rose and fell rapidly as a panic attack clawed its way up his throat. He tried to steady his breathing, but he was losing the battle.

Tony acted quickly and gently guided Peter to sit down on the church steps. “You’re okay, bud,” he said soothingly. “Take a deep breath, just like this.” He inhaled dramatically and waited for Peter to do the same before exhaling. He made Peter follow the pattern for a minute before he was convinced that the panic attack had subsided.

“Sorry,” Peter mumbled, his face burning.

“It’s okay,” Tony replied. He waited patiently for Peter to tell him what was wrong.

“It’s just…” Peter took a deep breath and felt tears prick his eyes. “Uncle Ben...he loved this song.” He sniffled and wiped at his face. “I miss him,” he confessed. “So much.”

“Can I hug you?” Tony asked. Peter didn’t hesitate before nodding, and Tony scooted behind him. Peter curled up in his arms, and Tony rested his chin on Peter’s head as he pulled him tight. “It’s okay to miss him. You’re always going to miss him.”

Peter was full on crying now, and his shoulders shook in Tony’s embrace. “D-does it ev-ever s-s-stop hurting?” he sobbed.

Tony took a deep breath, thinking of his own parents’ deaths. “It gets better,” he finally replied. “It always hurts, but not as much after a while.”

Peter tried to stand up, but Tony held him down. “Mr. Stark, we’ve gotta find the sack,” Peter said, tears still streaming down his face.

“We will,” Tony promised. “But I think Santa would understand if we sat here for a few minutes and listened to the rest of the song.” Peter stopped struggling and went lax against Tony’s chest. Tony gently rocked him back and forth as he hummed his mother’s favorite Christmas carol into Peter’s hair, holding back tears of his own.

 

* * *

 

They found the sack stuck in a tree a little while later. Peter used his climbing abilities to hop up and dislodge it from the branches, thankful for the distraction from his meltdown in front of the church. 

“How the hell are we supposed to find elves in that?” Tony wondered.

Peter peered inside and pushed past the gobs of presents. He felt an odd breeze coming from inside the bag. He tried sticking his hand in farther, and he realized he could reach way past the end of the bag.

“I think this thing is like the Tardis!” Peter exclaimed. He stuck his entire torso inside, and tried crawling. To his surprise, he found that he could keep going. “It is, Mr. Stark! I think it leads to the North Pole!”

Tony was about to tell Peter to stop when he saw a three of men headed straight for them. They wore all black and looked like people you wouldn’t want to meet on a nice, sunny day much less a dark night like this one.

“Peter, get out of there for a second,” Tony started to say. But where Peter’s feet had once been, there was now only an empty space. “Peter?”

“Hey, man!” one of the guys called as they approached. “What’s inside that bag?”

“Oh you know,” Tony shrugged, trying to play it cool, “just some presents.”

“Then who were you talking to?” the one with the beanie asked.

“No one,” Tony replied.

A man with a scar on his cheek smiled dangerously. “Well that ain’t what it sounded like.” He tried to step towards the bag, but Tony blocked him. Scar shoved him aside and grabbed the bag while Beanie twisted Tony’s arms around his back.

The guy who had first called out stepped forward and gave Tony a once-over. Tony watched as his gold chain glittered under the streetlamp.

“Has anyone ever told you that you look like Tony Stark?” Gold Chain asked, rubbing his chin.

Tony sighed. This was going to be a long night.

 

* * *

 

While Tony was dealing with the Three Stooges in Chicago, Peter had entered an entirely new world inside Santa’s sack of presents. He was so excited that his Tardis theory had been right, that he didn’t even notice Tony wasn’t following behind him. 

He hummed the Doctor Who theme as he pushed more presents out of his way. He squinted ahead and spotted a bright light a little further down. Just as he was about to crawl towards it, a small squeak stopped him.

Peter froze and held his breath as something small scampered ahead of him. It looked like one of the big rats you would find in a sewer, but it’s head was a lot pointier.

“Hey!” Peter called to it. “I need to find Santa’s elves! Can you help me?”

The creature let out a shriek of surprise and bolted. Peter quickly followed after it, diving headfirst into the bright light he had seen before. Peter screamed as the floor he was crawling on suddenly disappeared and he fell headfirst into a colorful abyss. As he tumbled downward, he watched millions of presents of all shapes, sizes, and colors fly past him. He even spotted a shiny, new sports car before his stomach dropped and he fell straight down.

“AHHH!” he screamed, preparing to fall to his death for a second time that night.

Instead, however, he landed in a pile of presents and went tumbling down until he reached a tile floor. He groaned and shook his head, dislodging some colorful bows from his hair. He slowly pushed himself up and took in his surroundings.

The walls were impossibly high, and no matter how far he craned his head, he couldn’t see to the top. He turned around and spotted a huge panel of TV screens standing behind a comfy leather chair in the middle of the room. The chair was flanked by sturdy mahogany desks, and Peter’s curiosity got the better of him. He rifled through some random papers until he found what appeared to be a remote control. He pressed the play button and watched the TVs behind the chair come to life.

“Hi Santa!” a bunch of tiny voices said all at once. Peter watched in awe as hundreds of children appeared in front of him. They all recorded messages for Santa about the Christmas wishes. They changed quickly, and Peter grinned when he recognized Paddy, Sam, and Harry from the second floor of his apartment building. The brothers all smiled for the camera and begged Santa for three skateboards.

Peter walked away from the TVs towards the rotunda on the other side. Thousands of filing cabinets all labeled with different alphabet ranges lined the wall. He knew he had a mission, but part of him realized he would never get a chance like this again. He looked around to make sure no one was watching before sticking himself to the row of S’s and climbing up to the cabinets that were labeled “Sta”.

Peter carefully opened the cabinet and flicked through the letters with his right hand while his left was still secure on the wall. He finally found what he was looking for, and he let out a giddy laugh as he held up Tony Stark’s first letter to Santa from 1975. Tony’s handwriting was atrocious, and he had drawn several snowflakes on the plain envelope.

Peter kept going, but the letters stopped after 1979. He frowned, thinking about all the stories he had heard about Howard Stark and what a crappy dad he had been to Tony. Maybe that was the reason why the letters stopped. He was about to close the cabinet when he saw one final letter. He pulled it out and gasped when he read the date.

December 23rd, 2018.

“Mr. Stark wrote Santa a letter this year?” Peter whispered to himself. Every part of him knew it was wrong, but he pulled the letter out anyway.

 

_ Dear Santa, _

_ I know I haven’t written to you in about thirty some years, and to be honest, I’m not really sure why I’m writing to you now. I’m spending Christmas with a really special kid named Peter Parker. His aunt’s working, and she asked me to come over so he wouldn’t be alone on Christmas. The kid apparently believes you’re still real, so why not give this a letter a shot, huh? _

_ I have absolutely everything money can buy, so this letter isn’t really for me. Peter is such a good kid, and I just want him to be happy, healthy, and safe. God knows he needs help with the last one because of all his Spiderman stuff. _

_ Stark men are screw ups. My dad was, and so am I. But I really, really love this kid, and I don’t want to avoid him or hurt him like my dad did to me. Please help me be the person Peter deserves. Please help me be better. _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Tony Stark _

_ P.S. If you could get Peter to call me Tony, that would be a Christmas miracle. _

 

Peter took a shaky breath before gently placing the letter back in the envelope and then the envelope back in the cabinet. He closed it shut, but instead of climbing back down, he stayed put.

Mr. Stark wanted him to be happy.

Mr. Stark cared about him.

Mr. Stark loved him.

An odd shuffling noise shook Peter from his thoughts, and he pushed the contents of Tony’s letter aside for later. He climbed his way back down and tiptoed towards the other hallway.

The rotunda opened up to a room that had a roaring fireplace and bookshelves packed to the gills. A plush red chair sat in front of the crackling flames, and Peter spotted a small figure hiding under an end table.

“Hey there,” Peter cooed, crouching low. He pulled out his video camera and began recording (for scientific purposes, of course). “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”

The creature turned around, and Peter gasped. Its brown body was shivering slightly, and its big eyes looked at Peter curiously. It had a long mustache that practically reached the ground, and it wore green knitted overalls with a matching pointed hat.

“Hel-lo?” the creature asked tentatively.

“I’m Peter,” Peter said. “What’s your name?”

The creature let out a small chuckle. “L-Lars,” it replied.

Peter smiled, but it dropped as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He whirled around and found himself staring at a crowd of similar creatures, all murmuring in the same language Peter had heard Santa shout at the reindeer. He quickly inferred that these had to be Santa’s elves. But if they were supposed to help Peter, he couldn’t figure out why his Spidey senses were screaming at him to run.

“H-Hey guys,” he said nervously. “I’m Peter Parker.” The elves did not look impressed, and some began to walk towards him, their eyes glaring at him. “Santa sent me?” Peter tried.

He held the camera out defensively as the elves continued their approach.

“Uh, guys? Guys?!”

When the elves began to tackle his body from every angle, Peter knew it was going to be a long night.


	9. Part 9

Peter knew without a shadow of a doubt that he could have easily used his super strength to break free from the strings of Christmas lights that currently tied him to Santa’s desk chair. He also knew he probably could have kicked all the elves away once they starting dog piling him.

But gosh darnit, they were just so  _ cute. _ And Peter couldn’t bring himself to hurting any of Santa’s elves because he really wanted a chance to redeem his spot on the Nice List. So he sat in his restraints and watched as the elves spoke to each other in their mysterious language as they decided what to do with him. They were all shapes, sizes, and colors, but they all wore some variation of the pointy hat that Lars had sticking on top of his head.

A group of them were playing with his camera and making silly faces at the lens. Peter’s heart plummeted as they nearly dropped it to the floor.

“Hey!” he exclaimed as politely as he could. “Please don’t break my camera!”

The elves ignored him, and now they had moved onto making heart hands at the camera. A big, burly white elf coughed loudly, causing all of the others to pause. They (Peter wasn’t sure if elves had genders at this point, and he didn’t want to assume) glared as the others smiled guiltily back at them, and they pushed the camera lens down and walked towards Peter.

“Look, just let me go!” Peter pleaded.

The white elf jumped on top of his knees and pointed their furry finger at Peter. “Bif lack!” they shouted. “Ber ist Santa Claus?”

Peter only recognized two words out of the entire exchange, but he was smart enough to get the gist.

“Let me explain what happen!” Peter exclaimed. “You see, after the sleigh crashed-”

The elves all gasped in horror and covered their mouths.

“-we lost the reindeer-”

Now they started to really wail. One elf cried out “Blitzen!” before blowing their nose in their neighbor’s hat. A few elves even fainted at the news.

“-Santa Claus told me to find you guys,” Peter continued. “He said you were the only ones who would know what to do!” Peter thought back to what Santa had told him and Tony when they first landed in Chicago. He looked at the elves with a purposeful glint in his eyes. “Santa said Christmas must endure!”

It was like Peter had activated some type of magical switch because the elves all started repeating the phrase. It started out as a quiet hum, traveling from the front of the group to the back. The buzz swelled as the elves began jumping up and down, looks of elation replacing where fear had been just a few moments earlier.

“CHRISTMAS MUST ENDURE!”

 

* * *

 

Tony Stark had been in a fair amount of sticky situations. But man, the guys currently taking him back to their boss were morons. They hadn’t restrained his arms once they had shoved him into the back seat of a car that looked like it had been driven straight off the salvage lot. Tony would have kicked and punched his way out then and there, but they had locked the sack of presents in the trunk, and he couldn’t risk jeopardizing Peter’s safety by trying “some of his Iron Man shit” as Rhodey liked to say.

So, he waited as patiently as he could until the car pulled up to some type of old warehouse. Beanie honked the horn, and the door opened, letting them through. Tony was roughly shoved out of the car, and he was able to glance back long enough to see Gold Chain grab the sack out of the trunk.

The alpha male of the group was fiddling with something on his workbench when they brought Tony over. Tony saw enough to realize that something highly illegal was going on here, and he wondered just how much more bizarre this night could get for him.

“Well, what have we got here?” Alpha Male chuckled, looking Tony up and down.

Gold Chain placed the sack down on the floor, and bells jingled from somewhere inside. Alpha Male pulled on the string and revealed a bounty of presents inside.

“Huh,” Alpha Male said, “Tony Stark and a sack of presents? Looks like Christmas came early this year.”

“Technically,” Tony chimed in, unable to stay quiet anymore, “since it’s past midnight, it’s already Christmas, so it can’t really come early, now can it?”

Gold Chain responded by landing a solid fist in Tony’s gut, causing him to crumple to his knees.

Alpha Male just chuckled and took out one of the boxes. He unwrapped the paper with more care and precision than Tony was expecting from a low-life criminal, and when he opened the box, a huge chunk of coal stared back at him.

“Seriously?” Alpha Male asked. “Coal? Is this some kind of joke?”

The other men glanced at each other nervously. Gold Chain reached inside a grabbed a present of his own, but when he opened it, he found tiny chunks of coal as well. Beanie and Scar revealed the same result when opened two more boxes.

Now Alpha Male looked pissed. He tossed his box aside and walked over to a huge furnace. “Next time you morons waste my time,” he threatened, turning the handle, “you’re done.” He yanked the door open and bright orange flames flickered before them. Tony could feel the heat from the fire across the room, and his face paled when Alpha Male picked up the bag and aimed for the flames.

“STOP!” Tony yelled. “My kid’s in there!”

Alpha Male looked from Tony to the bag, which clearly was not big, or heavy enough, to be carrying a child. “Oh yeah?” he sneered. And then he tossed the bag into the fire without a second thought.

A primal, parental anger consumed Tony, and he let out a yell as he tackled Alpha Male to the ground. He quickly got up and reached inside the fire, saving the bag before any major damage could be done. He grabbed a random metal pole off one of the work benches and swung it around maniacally.

“Get back!” Tony demanded. “Let me go and nobody gets hurt!”

Someone kicked his knee from behind, and Tony tripped just long enough to drop the pipe and be tackled by Scar and Beanie.

“Take him out back!” Alpha Male yelled, his ego clearly bruised by Tony’s momentary takeover. “And not recycling, either. Stick him right in compost.”

Tony struggled and kicked as he was dragged backwards and away from the sack. “No!” he shouted desperately. “Peter!”

Suddenly, presents began to fall out of the bag and onto the warehouse floor. An odd, high-pitched chattering burrowed its way from the bottom of the bag to the top. Everyone froze as the tiny lump in the bag popped out to reveal something that reminded Tony a bit like the Gremlins movies he had watched with Rhodey in college.

The odd, brown creature had a pointy hat with even pointier ears, and its facial hair rivaled Tony’s. It looked around the warehouse in awe.

Beanie let out a childish giggle. “What is that thing?” he asked, stepping closer to the sack. “It’s...it’s kinda cute!” Beanie knelt down while his compatriots watched with a mix of horror and fascination. “Hey little guy! What’s your name?”

The adorable creature suddenly bared its teeth and held up its claws before letting out a terrifying hiss and jumping on Beanie’s face. The bag vibrated and more presents fell as an army of these little things descended on the workshop and proceeded to cause mass chaos.

Tony was able to duck under a workbench as the creatures tackled bad guys left and right. They were thrown through windows, tossed in the garbage, and knocked out with their own tools. Illegal money rained from the ceiling as one of the creatures dumped a suitcase of it from the rafters, hitting Scar directly in the head and knocking him out cold.

The warehouse was quiet once all of the men were taken care of. The creatures all cheered and jumped around in celebration, and Tony was pretty sure he saw a group of them doing the floss dance Peter had tried (unsuccessfully) to teach him a few months ago.

A white creature dressed in long, red overalls spotted Tony in his hiding place. It spluttered out something in an odd language and pointed at Tony.

“Oh shit,” Tony muttered, his eyes going wide. He tried to crawl away, but the creatures surrounded him and yanked him out from under the workbench by his ankles. He struggled as they held him down, and he heard the unmistakable sound of a chainsaw.

A big, silver creature laughed maniacally as he held the chainsaw in the air. The tool was almost as big as it was, so it lost its balance, and blade dropped dangerously close to Tony’s foot. The creature regained itself and began walking right between Tony’s legs, aiming the chainsaw at his crotch.

“No, no, no!” Tony shouted, trying to break free.

“STOP!” he heard Peter’s voice shout. Tony had never been more relieved to see Peter’s face pop out of a sack of presents in his entire life. “He’s with me!” the teen promised the creatures.

Chainsaw guy dropped the tool dejectedly, and Tony scrambled to help Peter out of the sack. “Am I glad to see you,” Tony gasped, pulling the teen in for a hug.

“Me too, Mr. Stark,” Peter mumbled into his jacket. He pulled away and gestured brightly to the elves. “And I brought help!”

Tony eyed the creatures warily. “Yeah, I can see that.” He shook his head and focused. “Let’s get the reindeer and the sleigh and blow this popsicle stand.”

Peter’s face fell. “The sleigh’s busted!” Then, his expression brightened as he turned to the elves. “Can you guys fix it?”

The elves all said something that Tony assumed was a resounding yes because they pulled a random assortment of tools out of their...well, Tony wasn’t quite sure where they came from, but from the looks of it, they had enough to fix the sleigh.

“Cool!” Peter exclaimed. “Now we just need to find Santa.” He knelt down to the leader. “Do you know where he is?”

The elf nodded and pulled out a picture. Peter gaped when Santa’s mugshot stared back at him.

“SANTA’S IN JAIL?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I skipped the True Believers part because I couldn't think of a way to make it fit based on how I built this universe. Peter believed in Santa because of Uncle Ben more than anything, so it didn't make sense to have his name in the book.


	10. Part 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter skips the jail scene. I really enjoyed Bjorn breaking Santa out with the chainsaw, so I figured I'd leave that alone :P

“So Tony,” Tony muttered to himself as he crawled under Santa’s sleigh, “what did you do this Christmas?” He looked over his shoulder as he pretended to carry on a conversation. “Oh, you know, Peter and I broke Santa’s sleigh, caught a herd of reindeer, got beat up by elves...all pretty typical stuff, really. What was it like meeting Santa?” he asked himself. “Well, the guy isn’t as fat like the Coca Cola ads make him look.” 

Lars kicked Tony’s ankle and yanked him out from under the sleigh with surprising strength. He yelled at Tony in elvish and waved his hands around wildly.

“Mr. Stark,” Peter chided, “you know Santa’s a bit sensitive about the whole weight thing.” Because of course he could now understand the elves. And yet, Tony couldn’t fathom how the teen struggled with Spanish.

“Sorry,” Tony said, holding up his hands in surrender. He looked up at Peter. “How are the repairs coming along up there?”

“Good!” Peter exclaimed, hopping down from the top. He held out his hand and helped Tony up so he could look inside the sleigh. “We’ve got the dashboard all fixed, and I helped the elves calibrate the GPS system. Everything should be good as new.”

Tony let out a puff of air. “Awesome,” he replied. “Now we just need Santa, and we’ll be ready to go.” He nudged Peter in the side. “Are you sure one of us shouldn’t have gone with Bjorn?”

Bjorn, the elf with the chainsaw, was more than willing to go break Santa out of jail, so he disappeared with the saw and an extra Santa hat while Peter and Tony stayed behind to help with the sleigh.

“He said he could handle it,” Peter reassured him.

Suddenly, the same red, glittery mist from the rooftop in Queens floated down in front of the sleigh. Santa groaned and reappeared, and he shook his head as if to get some of the glitter out of his hat.

“SANTA!” the elves and Peter exclaimed. The teen ran over and began chatting animatedly with Santa about the repairs to the sleigh and some of the extra modifications the elves had let him make. Tony just stood to the side with his arms crossed, looking proudly at Peter.

“Nice job!” Santa commended. “Now let’s get to-” He was cut off by the sound of his watch chiming. Santa pulled back his sleeve and stared at his wrist in horror. “Oh no, no, no!”

“What’s wrong?” Tony asked.

“I lost all track of time!” Santa groaned. “We’ve only got less than an hour before the sun rises!”

“But,” Peter said, his face falling, “we can still save Christmas, right?”

Santa tried to smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “We’re at the end of my window, Peter,” he admitted sadly.

Peter looked so dejected that Tony jumped in. “Well, there’s gotta be something we can do, right?” he asked. “We’re not just gonna give up at this point.”

Santa sighed and sat on the edge of his sleigh. “I don’t see any way around it, Tony.”

“No!” Santa and Tony both turned to Peter, whose face was set in fierce determination. “I don’t accept that!” Peter exclaimed. “We started something last night, and we’re going to finish it!”

Peter hopped into the sleigh and pulled out Santa’s book filled with the names and addresses of all the kids. “We just need to be efficient about this!”

“Yeah,” Tony nodded, hopping in to help. “If we figure out who’s left, we can group the houses and find the most efficient path.” He felt his jacket and then turned to Santa. “We could use some paper and pencils right now.”

Santa reached into his own coat and pulled out a notebook, pencils, and protractor. He also threw a map to Tony for good measure.

Tony and Peter worked in tandem with their heads bowed over the list. Tony scribbled furiously on the map while Peter pointed out housing clusters. They were cold, tired, hungry, and running on pure adrenaline at this point, but they were having fun. Tony would rub Peter’s hat over his curls, and Peter swiped Tony’s face with some eraser shavings, giggling all the while.

Ten minutes later, Tony hopped out of the sleigh and produced the route for Santa. “We’ll get all the houses down in 43 minutes,” he promised.

“We?” Santa asked, raising his brow.

Tony nodded. “The kid and I will help. Christmas will stay intact.”

Santa pondered the map and finally nodded. “Let’s do this!” He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Peter!” he called. “Make sure the reindeer are good to go!” He started walking back to the sleigh, but Tony grabbed his arm.

“Hang on a second,” Tony said, something popping into his mind. “You know everything about everyone, right?”

Santa nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

“So why…” Tony paused and lowered his voice so Peter wouldn’t hear him. “Why have you been calling Peter my son all night? You know he isn’t.”

“Isn’t he though?” Santa asked with a kind smile. “Tony, you should know better than anyone that blood doesn’t make a family.” He patted Tony’s shoulder before walking away.

Tony, too stunned to respond, looked up to the sky. He rubbed his hands over his face before putting them in his pockets. The implications of Santa’s words were huge, and Tony had no idea how to process the information.

“Mr. Stark!” Peter yelled. Tony turned and saw Peter waving the reins in the air. “Santa’s letting me drive! We need to leave!”

Tony nodded, and finally found his voice. “Okay!” he called back.

When this was all over, Tony promised himself that he would be the best father figure to Peter, even if the teen never saw him that way.

Because Peter deserved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SANTA KNOWS ALL!!! ;)


	11. Part 11

“I CAN’T DO THIS!” Peter screamed, gripping the reins with a white-knuckled terror. 

Santa had whipped the reins to get the reindeer started, but as soon as Peter took over, they got lower and lower in the sky until they were almost back on the ground. Peter yanked hard to try and get them to go up, but all that did was make the reindeer hop up onto a train track. He was panicking, and if they didn’t get up in the air quickly, the whole plan would be ruined.

Tony watched as the bright lights of an approaching train got closer and closer. Santa was about to lean in and give Peter some advice when Tony took over.

“Listen, kid,” he said, gripping Peter’s shoulder firmly. “You’ve gotta believe in yourself.”

Peter shook his head. “This isn’t a car, Mr. Stark,” he replied. “I can’t fly a sled! I’m not special like Santa!”

“You’re Spiderman!” Tony exclaimed. “You climb on walls, catch bad guys, and keep New York safe.”

“But I’m not Spiderman now!” Peter protested. “I’m just Peter Parker!”

Tony moved so he was standing directly behind Peter and knelt down right next to Peter’s ear. “You didn’t let me finish, kid,” he said with a smile. The train blared its horn, and Peter winced at the noise, but Tony’s grip never wavered on his shoulders. “Peter Parker is the best part about Spiderman. He’s kind, smart as a whip, and the best person I know. He sacrifices everything for everyone else. He can do anything,  _ anything _ he puts his mind to, including flying Santa’s sleigh. You  _ can _ do this, Peter. I believe in you.”

Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “C’mon Peter,” he whispered to himself. He pulled every last bit of courage that he had and raised the whips before bringing them down with a satisfying CRACK.

Comet bellowed at the front of the line and took off into the air just in time. Tony felt the bottom of the sleigh bounce off the top of the train as they were finally flying.

“WAHOO!” Peter cheered, finally opening his eyes. “I DID IT!”

Tony wanted nothing more than to hug Peter, but he refrained to avoid distracting the teen. “I knew you could!” he exclaimed instead.

Santa grinned at Tony and gave him a thumbs up. “Alright, Peter,” Santa said, “let’s put your plan to the test.”

The trio worked against the clock to get all of the presents delivered. Santa flew across rooftops as a glittery red mass while Tony shouted names and addresses from the sleigh. Elves tossed presents out of the sack and Santa made sure they got into the right homes. Peter navigated efficiently, flying them through different cities, states, and even countries with ease. He mastered the GPS on the dashboard and took them through multiple portals in the course of forty minutes.

Of course, it didn’t all go perfectly. Santa had to fetch one or two elves whose parachutes had gotten stuck in the trees after a particularly bad gust of wind had almost knocked the reindeer out of the sky. Bjorn’s sticky candy cane fingers also caused two pages of Santa’s list to get stuck together, so when the list got checked twice, they discovered a house had accidentally been missed.

Peter had gotten them to Mexico City in the knick of time, and Santa was able to sneak in through the window to deliver the last present while Peter and Tony watched the sun rise from the sleigh.

Tony shut the list with a satisfying “thud” and slumped down in the back of the sleigh. “I think that’s my cardio for the month,” he groaned, completely spent. “If Cap asks me to train this week, tell him I quit, would ya kid?”

Peter rubbed his eyes wearily. “‘M not telling off Captain America, Mr. Stark,” he replied with a yawn.

Santa reappeared inside the sleigh with a laugh, startling both Peter and Tony. “Well that was certainly close!” he exclaimed.

“Did you put the last present under the tree?” Peter asked, all exhaustion fading away.

Santa nodded. “Christmas has been saved!” he declared.

The elves cheered along with Peter and Tony, and Santa climbed up front to give Peter a break. He clicked his tongue and the sleigh suddenly zoomed back towards Peter’s apartment building in Queens.

Tony thought Peter was the worst driver ever, but he realized Santa gave the kid a run for his money. He landed the sleigh roughly in the middle of the street, and Tony flipped over the seat right in Peter’s lap at the harsh stop.

“You need some driving lessons too,” Tony groaned, untangling himself from Peter’s limbs. He tumbled out of the sleigh and onto sweet, solid ground.

“That was the most amazing night ever!” Peter cheered, hopping down gracefully.

“Oh, Christmas Eve is always the best night of my life,” Santa replied with his trademark smile. “But now, it’s time for me to go home.”

“Will we ever see you again?” Peter asked quietly, a hopeful look in his eyes.

Santa chuckled. “Not if I can help it. Ah!” He held up his hand and reached into his coat. “I believe this is yours,” he said to Peter before handing him Uncle Ben’s video camera.

Peter gasped and quickly repossessed it. “Thank you! I totally would have forgotten it!” He pulled the viewfinder open and aimed it at Santa. “Can you do it?”

“Peter…” Santa warned.

“Please?” Peter begged. “Just this once!”

Santa gazed at him with searching eyes. “On one condition,” he finally said. “That present you’ve hidden in your desk? Make sure it gets under the tree.”

Peter’s face paled, and he swallowed thickly. He glanced up at Tony nervously and then back to Santa. “A-a-are you-”

“Trust me,” Santa replied simply. “So, we have a deal?”

Peter bit his lip before nodding. “Deal.”

“Good!” Santa waved as he climbed back in the sleigh. “Oh, and Tony?” he called back. “Try and be good, will you?”

Tony pretended to be offended. “Me? Not be good?!” he gasped. “How dare you suggest such a thing!”

Peter jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow as Santa let out a hearty laugh. He cracked the whip and the reindeer began to fly. Just when Tony thought Santa was going to disappear, the sleigh turned back around.

“HO, HO, HO, MERRY CHRISTMAS!” Santa yelled as he zoomed by for the last time.

Peter and Tony stared up at the sky in awe until the sleigh became a tiny blip in the clouds before disappearing.

“Oh. My. God!” Peter squealed. “I can’t believe last night happened! Did it really happen? Maybe I was hallucinating. Maybe we were both hallucinating, Mr. Stark!”

“Easy there, Peter,” Tony chuckled. “Yes, that totally happened, and no one is ever going to believe it.”

“But I got the whole thing on-” Peter pressed a button on his camera, and the tape dispenser opened to reveal an empty cassette. “My tape’s gone!”

Tony raised his brow. “Did you really think he was going to let you keep it?” he asked. “Last thing the guy needs is to wind up on an episode of  _ Buzzfeed Unsolved _ .” Peter looked crestfallen, so he wrapped an arm around the teen’s shoulders. “You did really good last night,” he said sincerely.

“Yeah?” Peter asked, looking up.

“Yeah.”

Peter wrapped his own arm around Tony’s waist. “I’m really glad I got to do it with you, Mr. Stark.”

“Are you two actually hugging in the middle of the street right now?” a voice asked from behind them.

Peter and Tony both turned to find May walking towards them. She was bundled up from her walk home from work, and her cheeks and nose were stained pink from the chilly air.

“Aunt May!” Peter yelped. He ran over and practically tackled her with a hug. “Merry Christmas!” He lifted her off her feet and spun her around.

“Merry Christmas, kiddo!” she sang back. She squeezed tight before pulling away. “Did you two have a good night?”

Tony and Peter shared a look. “Yeah,” they both replied.

“Anything interesting happen?” she asked.

“Nope,” Peter shrugged.

“Don’t lie, Peter,” Tony chided. Peter’s eyes widened as May narrowed hers. Tony gave the teen a mischievous grin and patted his shoulder. “Peter here ate through two pints of ice cream. Kid practically passed out from a sugar coma trying to wait up for Santa.”

“TWO pints?!” May exclaimed. “Peter!”

Peter blushed furiously and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, May.” He scowled up at Tony before sticking his tongue out. “Tattle tale,” he muttered. May and Tony both laughed.

“Well,” May said, “what do you say we go inside and celebrate Christmas?”


	12. Part 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I SHALL NOT APOLOGIZE FOR THE FLUFF THAT IS ABOUT TO COME IN THIS CHAPTER!

May’s eyes filled with tears the second she walked into the apartment. 

“Oh my god,” she gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. When Tony and Peter walked in behind her, they saw why she was shocked.

The entire apartment had been decorated to the nines for Christmas. Garland crawled up the corners of the walls, and wreaths above every doorway. The Christmas tree was absolutely stunning with twinkling lights woven between each branch. Peter recognized all of the ornaments on the tree from the boxes he had May kept stored in the hall closet. Presents were neatly stacked under the tree, and Christmas music played softly from the Amazon Echo he had gotten May with his first official paycheck from the Stark Internship. The fireplace was even lit with a small, charming fire.

May swallowed thickly and wiped away her tears. “It’s...it’s just like when Ben…” She paused and cleared her throat. “When Ben…”

Tony gently pushed the stunned teen towards his aunt, and Peter wrapped her up in a hug. “Thank you so much,” she whispered in Peter’s ear. “This is the best present you could have gotten me.”

Peter felt a little bit guilty considering he hadn’t actually put any of this stuff up. But May was happy, so he was happy. “I love you May,” he whispered back.

May let out a watery laugh. “Okay, let’s open presents.” She led the way to the tree, and Peter made a pit stop to his room to change into his favorite Christmas pajamas. Tony snorted when he saw the teen’s shirt decorated with Pikachu in a Santa hat, but made no move to follow them to the tree. He stood awkwardly in the doorway to the living room, but May beckoned him to join them as well. No one noticed Peter slip something under the tree as Tony sat down with them.

May tossed a fuzzy blanket off the couch and onto Peter’s head. He giggled and wrapped it around his shoulders as he shuffled closer to the fire.

“This one's for you,” May said, reading the tag on the first present.

Peter took it eagerly and began unwrapping the package. His jaw dropped when he revealed a Nintendo Switch and the newest Super Smash Bros game. “Aunt May,” he said quietly, “this is too-”

“Do not finish that sentence,” May demanded, pointing her finger at him. “You are not allowed to feel guilty about this Nintendo Myth-”

“Switch,” Peter corrected with a smile.

“Nintendo Switch thing,” May finished. “You’ve been doing so well, kiddo. I want you to have this.” She leaned over and kissed his forehead. “Got it?”

Peter smiled and hugged his new present to his chest protectively. “Got it.”

The gifts kept coming. Tony had added his own to the mix, and May was delighted with her new InstaPot, while Peter was over the moon about his new StarkPhone.

“It’s got Karen already programmed in it,” Tony explained, showing him how it works. “She can contact me at any time if you need help.”

“Or if you don’t think you need help,” May added with a sly glint in her eye. "It's like an upgraded Baby Monitor Protocol." Peter scowled playfully at May and Tony. Clearly, they had planned this gift together.

As a gag gift, May bought Tony the most ridiculous Christmas pajamas. The onesie was meant to look like an elf’s outfit, with striped socks and jingle bells on the footies. Peter tried to convince him to change into the horrendous PJs, but Tony refused. This led to Peter chasing him around the apartment and climbing on the walls to try and capture the man, but Tony was quick too. He vaulted over the couch and hid behind May, who caught Peter and tickled him until he gave up.

May glanced down at the tree after they had all stopped laughing, and she cleared her throat. “Tony, it looks like there’s one more present for you.” She couldn’t keep the surprise off her face as she looked from Peter to Tony.

“Uh…” Peter stuttered. “I need to, uh...I need to call N-Ned.” And he bolted back to his room with his new phone clutched in his hand before May or Tony could stop him.

Tony carefully pulled the small golden box out from under the tree and read the tag.

“To Mr. Stark, From Peter,” he read aloud. “Hey kid! You sure you don’t want to be here when I open this?”

Peter didn’t answer, and Tony gave a small shrug before ripping the paper. He opened the box underneath and grinned when he pulled out a Christmas ornament shaped like his arc reactor.

“He actually found one of these?” Tony asked incredulously. “I thought Hallmark stopped selling them years ago!” He let out another laugh, but it caught in his throat when he spotted Peter’s handwriting in gold paint across the top of the ornament.

 

_ My dad lights up my world. _

 

Tony let out a sharp breath and dropped the box to hold the ornament in both hands. He pulled it close to make sure he hadn’t misread. He looked to May, then the ornament, then May again, his mouth opening and closing in shock. For once, he was at a complete loss for words. 

“He’s had that gift hidden in his desk for months,” May confessed quietly. She shook her head and a small laugh escaped her. “I honestly wasn’t sure if he’d give it to you.”

Tony knew the answer but he asked it anyway. “This is his writing?”

“Yeah.”

Tony nodded and sniffled as he felt the tears that had been building up behind his eyes fall down his cheeks. The ornament was suddenly the most precious thing in the world, and he pulled it close to his chest.

“Are you...are you okay with this?” he asked, his voice cracking at the possibility of her saying no.

But thankfully, May nodded. “Yeah, Tony, I am.” She leaned back on her arms and smiled up at the tree. “You’re really good for him,” she said fondly. “A lot of who he’s growing up into is because of your relationship these last few years. I was really worried after Ben died that he’d…” She trailed off and wiped away her own tears. “I, uh, I thought I’d lose him, you know? That he’d let himself get consumed with Spiderman. But then you came along and-”

“I screwed up a lot, May,” Tony interrupted softly. “I wasn’t there for him when he needed me.”

“Then be there for him now,” May replied. “You’re already his hero, Tony. And if you’re honest with yourself, you’ve been his dad for a while.”

“I could never replace his dad,” Tony said.

“No,” May replied, shaking her head. “You’ll never be Richard Parker.” She paused and gave Tony the most genuine smile he had ever seen from her. “But you’re a pretty amazing Tony Stark.”

Tony didn’t know what to say, so he nodded and let the tears fall. “Thank you,” he rasped, trying to keep his emotions under control.

“You’re welcome,” May replied. “Now I think there’s an empty spot on the tree if you want to put that on there.” She pushed herself up and walked towards the kitchen. “I’ll start some breakfast, okay?”

“Okay.” Tony stood up and carefully placed the ornament on an empty branch. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he stared at the word “dad” over and over again. He felt someone watching him, and when he turned around, he found Peter standing nervously in the doorway. His arms were wrapped around his stomach like he was preparing to shield himself from the worst.

“Y-you hung it u-up?” Peter asked, nodding to the tree.

“Yeah, kiddo,” Tony replied, wiping the few stray tears off his cheeks. He sniffed and waited for Peter to make the next move.

Peter swallowed thickly and took a deep breath. “So...so you like it then?” There was so much hope in his voice, that Tony knew exactly what he had to do.

Tony walked straight up to Peter and pulled him into the strongest hug he could offer. He sighed when the teen wrapped his arms around his waist and returned the embrace. Tony heard Peter sniffle against his chest, and he shushed him as he rubbed small circles against his back.

“I love it,” Tony choked out, new tears replacing the old ones. “I love  _ you  _ Peter. So, so much.”

Peter half laughed and sighed in relief as he nestled himself in the crook of Tony’s shoulder. This moment was perfect, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything. There was just one thing missing...Peter leaned back and smiled widely as he looked Tony in the eyes.

“I love you too, Tony.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why Tony and not dad? Peter paid attention to the letter Tony wrote to Santa :)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!!! I really, really hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Happy holidays!
> 
> Ace

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I'M POSTING ALL OF THE CHAPTERS IN ONE NIGHT!


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